Alaska

[bobbiejean]

We will be going to Alaska in May. Could someone please show Alaska fashions. Would we need capris, shorts or heavy coats at that time of year.

[Sailor_Sally]

We will be going to Alaska in May. Could someone please show Alaska fashions. Would we need capris, shorts or heavy coats at that time of year.

I was in Alaska in May . We wore jeans , long sleeved t shirts , fleece shirts , gloves ,rain coats & sneakers when touring . On the boat I wore long pants , t shirts & light cotton sweaters during the day . At night when we were not too exhausted I wore regular dining room clothes .Alaska cruises are pretty casual . My raincoat had a zip out liner which was great . My husband just wore a rain jacket . The key to Alaska is to layer and peel off the layers as it warms up . We had great weather and in talking to Alaska natives they said May is their best month weather wise.

[arhillbilly]

I was there in the middle of May 2012.....I had taken long pants and long sleeve tops. My only jacket was a lightweight fleece jacket and it was not enough, but had to do. I layered my short sleeve top over my long sleeved top and wore my jacket. I also wore my panty hose under my pants. If and when I should ever go back, I will be more prepared. On the ship I wore my cocktail dresses and my evening dresses, but didn't go outside in them and the temp of the ship was fine.

[CowPrincess]

We will be going to Alaska in May. Could someone please show Alaska fashions. Would we need capris, shorts or heavy coats at that time of year.

 

You might "need" all of those. The trick, though, is to dress in multiple layers, as the other posters have advised. So a long-sleeved t-shirt, a fleecy, and a rainproof jacket. As the weather changes, you peel off what you don't need, then put it back on when you DO need it.

 

Example: In Skagway, we left the ship wearing long sleeved t-shirts, fleecies, hooded rain jackets, and jeans. Within an hour we had removed the fleecies and put the jackets back on (without fleecies). An hour or so later, the jackets came off and we were rolling up our t-shirt sleeves :) On the way back to the ship, about 4 hours total time, we had everything back on again.

 

If you tend to chilliness, I suggest a pair of silk long johns as well. Gloves, good wool-blend socks, and some sort of hat. I also always pack a light cashmere sweater because they take up nearly no room in a suitcase, and are very warm.

Edited November 15, 2013 by CowPrincess

[cb at sea]

Layers...that's what you need. It could be quite warm, or quite chilly. You want to have something for any weather situation. Bring a pair (or 2) of shorts...just in case. Bring long pants, long sleeves...a couple 3/4 sleeves... a sweater/fleece...anything you can LAYER to make what you have warmer, if you need it.

 

You cannot predict if it will be hot or cold. You won't need heavy coats, if you have layers!

[RedHeadTexan]

We went to Alaska in early September, but I thought I would give my 2 cents anyway. I absolutely agree with the others that layering is the key. Other than when it snowed on August 31st in Denali, I was never uncomfortable. The only thing that I did not bring that I wish I had was waterproof gloves. I did bring convertible pants, but never zipped the off to shorts.

 

My basic outfits were:

Jeans or Cords

base layer t-shirt

thin long sleeve shirt (1/2 zip with thumb holes)

fleece vest (glacier bay and denali only)

fleece jacket (wore every day except Ketchikan)

fashion scarf (brought 6 of them to change up my outfits

hats (knitted caps and blingy caps)

wool socks (my feet get cold easily)

hikers (low top hiking shoes...very comfortable and waterproof)

 

I hope this helps. My review listed below has pictures, so you can see what I wore. :D

 

Lisa

[puppycanducruise]

As everyone knows, the weather is hard to predict.

We did an Alaska cruise in May many years ago. I do remember it rained a couple of times, so make sure you have a waterproof jacket, hat and shoes. I also remember being in the pool, so don't forget your swimsuit. Also, take a nice sweater so you can have a walk outside after dinner - even at night, the scenery is lovely.

[Keith1010]

When you go off the ship you need to layer.

 

I would take a North Face type of water proof jacket and a sweater or sweatshirt or fleece and gloves and a hat and also pants to keep you warm and both long sleeve and short sleeve shirts and two pairs of walking shoes.

 

On the ship (inside) , dress as you would on any cruise.

 

Keith

Edited November 15, 2013 by Keith1010

[Nelie]

Everyone feels the ‘cold’ or ‘heat’ different. It can depend on where you live or even just person to person. I live in Australia. I have only even experienced the weather going down to 1 C/ 33.8 F where I live. I get cold easily. I am quite comfortable in jeans and a t shirt on a 25 C/ 77 F day.

 

I cruised Alaska july/august 2012 and I froze. Well actually I wasn’t too bad. The day in Glacier bay was the worst. We were spending 28 days in the US and only 7 of those were on the cruise. I couldn’t pack to much cold weather stuff as I would mainly need hot weather stuff.

 

Here are some pics of what I wore.

 

 

 

This was a sea day so i put my thin fleece jacket and my thin wool beanie on to go outside.

 

 

This was taken while we were cruising into to Juneau.

 

 

 

Edited December 6, 2013 by Nelie

[Nelie]

This was at Mendenhall Glacier. I added the purple Huski waterproof jacket and fleece beanie to what i was wearing in the previous photo. We hiked to the Glacier and we both my mum and i walk relatively fast and i didnt feel hot. I do remember my feet being cold. I dont think I had tights on underneath my jeans but did have thick wool socks on. I wasnt wearing hiking boots just a cheap version of Sketcher sneakers

[Nelie]

So I was fully rugged up for Glacier Bay and was cold.

 

Thin socks

Thick socks

Tights

Jeans

Singlet(camisole)

long sleeve top

t shirt

Columbia brand jumper (sweater/ fleece top)

Fleece Jacket (bought in Skagway)

Scarf that i ended up wrapping around my head/ears before around my neck

Fleece beanie

gloves

[Nelie]

 

 

 

 

Where as dinner attire is I guess what you would normally wear on a cruise. It depends on the cruise ship and what you usually like to wear. The first and 3rd pic are me and my mum on Formal or not night. Where as the 2nd and 4th are just normal nights but eating dinner in the dining room. We normally dress up if we go out to dinner back home so we dressed up a bit for dining room. We had just spent 2.5 weeks on a bus tour exploring the west coast USA. Alot of fast food or just meals in general that lacked vegetables so we ended up going to the buffet for dinner. We simply just changed out shoes and took off our heavier layers from our daytime attire. I would then go and change to head out to the night clubs after mummy went to bed

[ledge]

Thanks for starting this thread. I was coming here to ask something similar. I may be going to Alaska in August & I have no idea what to bring. While it gets cold where I live I pretty much have a city wardrobe. I have 1 pair of jeans-I usually wear skirts or dresses with sweater tights & knee high flat boots when it is cold.

I wear skirts & dresses on warm weather cruises, but it seems more casual & acceptable in summer weather.

 

I have wool coats & leather gloves. I'm so not a fleece girl. . .

 

So, it's partially the weather, but partially the activities. If I do cold weather outdoorsy things, it is no more than once a week, so I wear my 1 pair of jeans.

I may buy a 2nd if can find ones I like, because I will wear jeans, but I hate to buy things for vacation that I will never wear again.

[nlsoftly]

We have cruised the Inside Passage in May twice. Both times we experienced all four seasons (with 'Summer' being a few unexpected warm hours one day and 'Winter' being a brief snow event that also lasted less than a day).

 

Layers, layers, layers......and assume it is going to rain.

[Tinkerdevil]

I am from Arizona and well be going to Alaska in late May. At home it will most likely be at least high 90s, if not in the low hundreds. Any advice? My BF and I get cold with anything under 70.

 

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[CruzKnitr]

I am from Arizona and well be going to Alaska in late May. At home it will most likely be at least high 90s, if not in the low hundreds. Any advice? My BF and I get cold with anything under 70.

 

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Layers, layers. There is no telling how the weather will be. Jeans are a good choice. A 3-in-1 jacket would be better than a heavy winter one. You might have a chance to use either the fleece or the windbreaker shell at home plus you could wear either depending on the temp/port you are in. For glacier viewing/hiking thermal underwear especially since you say you get cold under 70. Raingear or a couple packages of disposable rain ponchos.

[geocruiser]

FYI one of the best jackets that I brought was brought on our cruise to Alaska. They were sold in every port for $19.99. I wished I had brought two.

[shipgeeks]

I agree with all of the above, except to add that if you do feel the cold at all, something as warm as a down jacket might be good. They can be easily squished in a compression bag, in the suitcase, and are very light. I wore mine every single day, both ashore, and up on deck where I spent all day despite having a balcony. My raincoat went over it on the rainy day. You can always take layers off, but you can't add things you didn't take.

[Lois R]

I agree with everyone who says to "LAYER....LAYER.....LAYER":) It really

is the best way to pack for an Alaskan itinerary.

 

I have been to Alaska 3 times and I hope to go back next summer:D

[tlund]

Glad to see this thread as I am trying to figure out my wardrobe for Alaska in May while the stores have all of the warmer clothes out. My biggest concern is what to wear in the main dining room for dinner. We have only cruised on Caribbean cruises so our dinner outfits usually consist of capris, light blouses and sandals. So, any advice on dinner attire? Since sandals won't be on the list, what kind of shoes do most wear in the dining room? Boots?

[Lois R]

Glad to see this thread as I am trying to figure out my wardrobe for Alaska in May while the stores have all of the warmer clothes out. My biggest concern is what to wear in the main dining room for dinner. We have only cruised on Caribbean cruises so our dinner outfits usually consist of capris, light blouses and sandals. So, any advice on dinner attire? Since sandals won't be on the list, what kind of shoes do most wear in the dining room? Boots?

 

Hi, I dress the same in the evenings......Caribbean or Alaska.

I normally wear a nice pair of slacks and top with sandals. Or skirt/top,

or a dress. The inside of the ship is usually comfortable to me and

sandals are always part of my evening footwear.

[CruzKnitr]

We will be going to Alaska in May. Could someone please show Alaska fashions. Would we need capris, shorts or heavy coats at that time of year.

 

I wanted to come back and clarify the 3-in-1 suggestion as those coats are rather expensive. I own one and wear it to death but then, again, I live in Wisconsin. It is basically a windbreaker over a fleece jacket. So if you have windbreaker already that will fit over a fleece hoodie or sweatshirt that would be fine.

 

Another suggestion. I was balking at the fact that I was traveling in August and didn't want to wear my red/grey outer shell. So I took the fleece under jacket and made sure my pale green San Francisco windbreaker fit over it. So if you have a port before your glacier day, you could just bring your fleece jacket and stop at one of the shops in port and buy the same windbreaker/water resistent jacket labeled Alaska and you would have the same thing and a souvenir too!

 

Only thing I missed about my 3-in-1 outer shell is that it has 5 pockets. It is virtually my purse when I wear it.

[Hoyaheel]

I brought 3 prs shoes on our 15 day Alaska trip (7 day cruise + time spent driving from Fairbanks to Anchorage and visiting family) I brought goretex hiking shoes, black satin heels, and black sporty mary janes (Privos - not too sporty, more like a ballet flat)

 

I wore the hiking shoes or Privos doing activities - depending on the activity and weather - and the heels for more nights than just formal, but I also wore the privos for dinner on the ship.

 

(PS Jeans aren't necessary - I didn't bring jeans to Alaska - I rarely wear them at home and it's even more rare for me to travel with them. I find a pair of black trousers more flexible in terms of being casual or dressing up in my style - I'm just not really a jeans person)

Edited December 31, 2013 by Hoyaheel

[HeatherC430]

Here's a link to my review. I wrote a section where I referenced the clothing I packed and what was worn. Pictures start on page 3

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1929967

 

Enjoy your cruise to Alaska! It's a once in a lifetime sort of cruise!